The China Mail - Kagiyama takes NHK lead in Japan to kick-start Olympic season

Japan's three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto topped the women's short programme.

Kagiyama, silver medallist at the 2022 Beijing Games, is seen as double world champion Ilia Malinin's biggest rival for gold at the Milan-Cortina Olympics in February.

The 22-year-old Kagiyama topped the field in front of his home fans in Osaka with a score of 98.58.

He was not happy with his performance, saying he "made mistakes on things I couldn't believe".

"I think that's the first time I've ever made a mistake on a spin in competition," Kagiyama said.

"It's frustrating to make a mistake on something you can usually do as a matter of course.

"I'll put this behind me and look to tomorrow," he said.

Kagiyama leads second-place countryman Shun Sato, who scored 96.67, and South Korea's Cha Jun-hwan, who was third on 91.60.

Sato won last month's Cup of China and is looking to lock up his place at next month's Grand Prix final in Nagoya.

Kagiyama, wearing a white-and-black print shirt and skating to "I Wish", looked composed throughout his performance.

But he could not hide his disappointment at the end of his routine as he stewed over his mistake.

"I made the same mistake on a spin before I came to the venue, and I was told not to panic and I fixed it," he said.

"But in today's performance I was concentrating so hard to stay calm that I messed it up."

Sakamoto took the lead in the women's competition with a score of 77.05, ahead of Kazakhstan's Sofia Samodelkina (67.75) and South Korea's You Young (67.66).

Sakamoto, an Olympic bronze medallist in Beijing, will retire after the Milan-Cortina Games.

The 25-year-old finished second at the Grand Prix de France last month in a shock loss to 17-year-old Japanese newcomer Ami Nakai.

She is looking to bounce back by clinching her place at the Grand Prix final and she was happy with her start to the competition.

"I've been nervous since I got here, including during practice," said Sakamoto.

"I was feeling nervous today as well but I was able to skate calmly in a way that represents myself."

China's Sui Wenjing and Han Cong led in the pairs competition after the short programme with a score of 74.63.

Italy's Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii were second on 73.69, followed by Hungary's Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko on 73.04.

Britain's Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson led in the ice dance with 81.57, followed by Italy's Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri (76.36), and Americans Caroline Green and Michael Parsons (75.14).

C.Smith--ThChM